Nigerians out in force for presidential vote

ABUJA (Reuters) - Tens of millions of Nigerians voted on Saturday in what they hope will be their first credible presidential election for decades, polls which could set an example in Africa and cement their emergence from military rule.

From the tin-roofed shacks of the Niger Delta, where front-runner President Goodluck Jonathan voted, to the dusty alleyways of Daura, the northern village of his main rival, ex-military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, voters came out en masse.

Across most of the country of 150 million there was little sign of the chaos and violence that has dogged past elections although two bombs panicked voters in the troubled northeastern city of Maiduguri. There were no reports of casualties.

Voters in the sprawling commercial hub of Lagos, where many polling stations finished early, stayed on to watch the count, shouting out the total as polling agents tallied the ballots.

"The politicians should know if they don't perform they are going to be voted out...The electorate now know we have the power to chose our leaders," said businessman Ahibuogwu Brian among the populous lagoon-side shanties of Makoko.

The polls pit Jonathan, the first head of state from the oil-producing Niger Delta, against Buhari, a northern Muslim with a reputation as a disciplinarian.

The African giant, home to more people than Russia, has failed to hold a free and fair presidential election since military rule ended in 1999, leaving many of its citizens with little faith in the benefits of democracy.

But a relatively successful parliamentary election a week ago, deemed credible by observers despite isolated acts of violence, has renewed voter confidence. Turnout appeared to be much higher than for the parliamentary election.

"There is no mago mago," said local election observer Agu Michael, 42, using the Yoruba expression for trickery in Lagos, Nigeria's biggest city. Market women took advantage of the swelling crowd to sell boiled plantain bananas and meat stew.

There were reports of underage voting and attempts at ballot-stuffing in some areas. In the northern state of Bauchi irate youths torched an electoral commission office after officials were allegedly found thumbprinting ballot papers.

"There are concerns that need to be addressed, but overall this is much better than the past," said Clement Nwankwo, head of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) in Abuja, working with more than 20 civil society groups to monitor the vote.

"We have not seen large-scale reports of malpractice, nor of collusion between electoral officials and politicians."

GOODLUCK AND PATIENCE

President Jonathan, a former zoology teacher born to a family of canoe makers, is the favourite. He is backed by the national machinery of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), whose candidate has won every presidential race since 1999.

"Nigeria is now experiencing the true democracy, where we the politicians have to go to the people," said Jonathan, voting with his wife Patience and his mother before leaving in a motorcade through cheering crowds.

There are more than 73 million registered voters and 120,000 polling stations. Results from the handful that had already declared in Lagos showed Jonathan with a strong lead. He won all 234 of the votes cast in his home village of Otuoke.

But Jonathan is resented by some in the north, who believe he is usurping the right of a northerner to the presidency for another four years. He inherited office after his predecessor, northerner Umaru Yar'Adua, died last year in his first term, interrupting a rotation between north and south.

Buhari, a strict Muslim known for his "War Against Indiscipline," is hoping to capitalise on some of the resentment and is likely to win strong northern support despite his Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) being a young party.

The former general told Reuters he feared the ruling party was trying to manipulate the vote out of desperation.

"They could do anything and they are trying everything but luckily people are very sensitive this time around and they are determined to make their vote count," he said.

Buhari would need to prevent Jonathan from taking at least a quarter of the votes in two thirds of the 36 states if he is to stop him winning in the first round, a feat which northern support alone is unlikely to guarantee.

Fellow opposition contender Nuhu Ribadu's Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) party has its stronghold in the southwest, and could help force a run-off. But the two failed to agree a last minute alliance this week, leaving the anti-Jonathan vote split.

(Additional reporting by Shyamantha Asokan in Lagos, Joe Brock in Daura, Samuel Tife in Otuoke, Ibrahim Mshelizza in Maiduguri; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)